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Review of the Head Coach Candidates from 2019-RU dodged some missiles!

Was curious about how the other candidates have done since 2019. If any have been omitted, please fill in. This is not intended to be an "I told you so" thread, but merely to see what the other candidates have done since December 2019.

The reality is that @Scarlet Shack , as usual, nailed it with this note in post #48 of the thread linked below: "I think he has the best resume of the coaches that we can afford...and $4 million a year."

And so did RU4Real in post #87: "He's a solid recruiter, he's got an innate sense of "New Jersey", but he's also got a list of flaws that are well-understood."

And the usual even-keeled @RuBird in post #88: "No “winner” has been knocking down our door."

Also, some solid insight from @RUskoolie at post #96 and @yesrutgers01 at post #121

But let's look at the alternatives that RU considered at the time (in no particular order), and what they have done:

1. Butch Jones- hired by Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference for $825,000/year- 2021 record (overall/conference): 2-10/1-7. We dodged a missile, not a bullet.

2. Steve Addazio- the Dazzler- Colorado State in the Mountain West (Salary $1,550,00/year) 2020-21 record (overall/conference): 4-12/3-9. We could have saved some money with the Dazzler!

3. Jason Candle- Toledo- (I was high on Candle at the time)- He went 6-6/3-5 in 2019, 4-2/4-2 in 2020 and 7-5/5-3 in 2021. Finishing 3rd to 5th in the MAC West does not move the needle. We would have gotten burned by Candle. I will eat my crow on this one.

4. Jedd Fisch- not sure if this was a serious consideration- Head coach at Arizona 2021 ($2.6 Million/year): 1-11/1-8- losing to an eventual 5-6 Northern Arizona. The fish stinks at the head coach was true this year in Arizona. Will he turn it around?

5. Chris Creighton- Current EMU coach- 37-56/22-44 at EMU in 8 seasons. He went 2-10/1-7 and 1-11/0-8 in his first 2 seasons. In season 8, he went 7-5/4-4, finishing 3rd in the West (these things take time in the MAC, and may take longer in the B1G East).


6. Al Golden- Here is what Al Golden has accomplished as a head coach since Miami- considered and not hired as head coach at UConn.

7. Lance Leipold- perhaps one of the more intriguing names from an X's and O's perspective, but a vocal segment of the fan base was diametrically opposed to hiring him because his personality does not exactly scream excitement, and he would not have fit in here in Jersey. He was 2-10/1-8 in year 1 at Kansas. Salary-$2.8 Million/year. Six year deal. Beating Texas was a nice accomplishment, but he would have needed a lot of New Jersey coaches/coordinators/assistants to move the needle here.

8. Les Miles-this was @Caliknight 's suggestion: 3-18 at Kansas, fired before second season ended for being a scumbag. We dodged an atomic bomb, not a bullet.

9. Jeff Hafley- Last but not least. Perhaps he should have been at the top of the list of viable other candidates, given his fan base here. Was Rutgers willing to gamble on another coordinator taking the head coaching job? An SI article said: "BC had budgeted as much as $3.5 million for an experienced proven head coach." That same article rumored his salary to be $3 Million/year.
What did he do in years one and two at BC?
2020: 6-6/5-5 -tied for 5th with three other teams in the ACC, beating 1-10 Duke, 2-10 Sun Belt powerhouse Texas State, 3-7 Georgia Tech, 1-10 Syracuse, 4-7 Louisville and 5-5 Pitt.
2021: Finished last in the Coastal Division at 6-6/2-6, losing to 6-6 Louisville, 5-7 Syracuse, 5-7 Florida State, and crushed by Wake Forest. Nice win against Mizzou, but other wins were against Colgate, UMass, Temple and Georgia Tech. Time will tell if he turns into a great head coach. But considering what Greg did here in his first tenure and hiring a first time head coach, still happy RU took Greg and not Hafley. Not even clear if Hafley was seriously in the running. The message board will be interesting after the BC game next year. Let's keep in mind, however that Hafley took over a program that had not had a losing record for four straight years 2016-19, finishing 4-4 in the ACC the previous three years. Would the Greg haters say that BC regressed, going 2-6 in the ACC in year 2?

10. Anthony Campanile- currently a linebackers coach for Miami Dolphins. From news reports, he was looking to leave to be DC at BC. RU was, according to Kratch, in a bidding war with Michigan for him.

EDIT- #11. Bret Bielema (by @Caliknight request):
Don't think Bielema was ever seriously under consideration, as he had just been hired as DL coach at New England for the 2019 season. But there was his lawsuit against Arkansas for failure to pay his money due that says he was a finalist for the Rutgers job. But was he? Nobody really knows.

In any event, Bielema did well at Wisconsin, riding Barry Alvarez' coattails, but when he bolted for Arkansas, he went 3-9/0-8 in year 1 (2013) and 7-6/2-6 in year 2 (2014). He had a decent third season, but he was ultimately fired by the Razorbacks at the end of year 5 when he went 4-8/1-7 in 2017. Not an awe-inspiring resume to be 29-34/11-29 in 5 years. He probably had a lot of Bobby Petrino's players those first 2-3 years, as Petrino went 11-2/6-2 in 2011. But he brought it down to rock bottom in year 5.

2021 at Illinois:
5-7/4-5. Lost to Maryland. Shut out by Wisconsin. He beat Penn State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska, which is good on him. But he lost to Rutgers. Bielema said about that: " We came out in the second half and laid an egg. My fault.” This makes him 0-2 against Rutgers. So there's that.

Jury is out on Bielema. Let's check back in 2-3 years.

SUMMARY- so the question is, would any of the other candidates done better than Greg? Maybe, but from the above, it looks like more likely they would not have done better.
For those complaining about an 8 year deal, consider what Michigan State spent on Mel Tucker after one bad year and one great year ($95 million/10 years). And before we continue to gaze lovingly at Mel Tucker and Michigan State, let's not forget then were 2-5/2-5 last year, and Tucker was 5-7/3-6 at Colorado. A little early for such a long and huge deal. Will he repeat? We shall see.

And before we say Maryland is waaay ahead of RU, keep in mind Locksley is in year 3. He was 3-9/3-9 in year one, and 2-3/2-3 in year 2, losing to Rutgers last year. Maryland got annihilated by Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan. This year, they were better than us. Last year we were better than them. There is no long term trend to be drawn from a small sample size.

Yesterday sucked and was deflating, but recruiting is trending way up, the biggest problem (the OL) is getting fixed and reinforced. Does the team have problems/weaknesses/things to be fixed, including coaching? Absolutely. Every team that has gone 5-7/2-7 has these issues in the middle of a rebuild. See Lance Leipold at Kansas. Or Tom Allen, who had two good years (year 4 and 5) at Indiana, and then regress. Greg said himself yesterday (and previously): "It's never linear, as we know. It's always that little bit of that mountain range until you really get all the pieces in place, and when you get the pieces in place, then it kind of goes like that, but we're not there yet."

Onward, upward.


Good post. We have some pretty dumb know it alls for “fans”.
 
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Maybe because we would be talking about recruits that the current head coach, who is the topic here, has brought in. Feel free to include your MAC recruits from 2021 also.
Who are these lineman we recruited that we lost out on?
There are MAC teams that are better than us. Every year. Ask P.J. Fleck. Like some of the directional Michigan teams.
 
There are MAC teams that are better than us. Every year. Ask P.J. Fleck. Like some of the directional Michigan teams.
You might be right but those same MAC teams are sometimes better than Indiana Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland and possibly other B1G 10 teams. I was asking about specifically the 3 and 4 star lineman ( like the ones we're getting next year) that chose the MAC over RU?

p.s. - I'd ask PJ about that but for some reasons he's not taking my calls?
 
I gotta admit. I’m one of them. I want so bad for us to be good. In retrospect, what I was most disappointed with was the no shows against OSU, Wisc, and MD. After a day of calming down, I do think we are moving in the right direction. The lines have to improve on both sides to stay competitive against all the B1G teams. And Schiano MUST figure out a way to protect the middle. It’s so predictable what teams will do against us. Pass over the middle. Duh!
OSU/WI were bad, but I didn't feel the same way about MD. It was 26-16 deep into the 3Q and if we had converted our two 4th and goals inside the 3, perhaps the game ends up differently, but at a minimum it would certainly have been far closer. We went from the worst P5 team in 2019 to 3-6 last year to 5-7 this year, just missing on a bowl bid, and Greg's recruiting continues to improve, which will allow continued improvement in the team. Some portal steals would be nice too. The future is still looking bright to me.
 
How about before Ash. Pretty sure PJ Fleck was available and still at WMU. Some here wanted him, me included. But others said he would fail in the B1G with the weak row the boat gimmick.

Then dum dum hired Ash.
 
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Was curious about how the other candidates have done since 2019. If any have been omitted, please fill in. This is not intended to be an "I told you so" thread, but merely to see what the other candidates have done since December 2019.

The reality is that @Scarlet Shack , as usual, nailed it with this note in post #48 of the thread linked below: "I think he has the best resume of the coaches that we can afford...and $4 million a year."

And so did RU4Real in post #87: "He's a solid recruiter, he's got an innate sense of "New Jersey", but he's also got a list of flaws that are well-understood."

And the usual even-keeled @RuBird in post #88: "No “winner” has been knocking down our door."

Also, some solid insight from @RUskoolie at post #96 and @yesrutgers01 at post #121

But let's look at the alternatives that RU considered at the time (in no particular order), and what they have done:

1. Butch Jones- hired by Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference for $825,000/year- 2021 record (overall/conference): 2-10/1-7. We dodged a missile, not a bullet.

2. Steve Addazio- the Dazzler- Colorado State in the Mountain West (Salary $1,550,00/year) 2020-21 record (overall/conference): 4-12/3-9. We could have saved some money with the Dazzler!

3. Jason Candle- Toledo- (I was high on Candle at the time)- He went 6-6/3-5 in 2019, 4-2/4-2 in 2020 and 7-5/5-3 in 2021. Finishing 3rd to 5th in the MAC West does not move the needle. We would have gotten burned by Candle. I will eat my crow on this one.

4. Jedd Fisch- not sure if this was a serious consideration- Head coach at Arizona 2021 ($2.6 Million/year): 1-11/1-8- losing to an eventual 5-6 Northern Arizona. The fish stinks at the head coach was true this year in Arizona. Will he turn it around?

5. Chris Creighton- Current EMU coach- 37-56/22-44 at EMU in 8 seasons. He went 2-10/1-7 and 1-11/0-8 in his first 2 seasons. In season 8, he went 7-5/4-4, finishing 3rd in the West (these things take time in the MAC, and may take longer in the B1G East).


6. Al Golden- Here is what Al Golden has accomplished as a head coach since Miami- considered and not hired as head coach at UConn.

7. Lance Leipold- perhaps one of the more intriguing names from an X's and O's perspective, but a vocal segment of the fan base was diametrically opposed to hiring him because his personality does not exactly scream excitement, and he would not have fit in here in Jersey. He was 2-10/1-8 in year 1 at Kansas. Salary-$2.8 Million/year. Six year deal. Beating Texas was a nice accomplishment, but he would have needed a lot of New Jersey coaches/coordinators/assistants to move the needle here.

8. Les Miles-this was @Caliknight 's suggestion: 3-18 at Kansas, fired before second season ended for being a scumbag. We dodged an atomic bomb, not a bullet.

9. Jeff Hafley- Last but not least. Perhaps he should have been at the top of the list of viable other candidates, given his fan base here. Was Rutgers willing to gamble on another coordinator taking the head coaching job? An SI article said: "BC had budgeted as much as $3.5 million for an experienced proven head coach." That same article rumored his salary to be $3 Million/year.
What did he do in years one and two at BC?
2020: 6-6/5-5 -tied for 5th with three other teams in the ACC, beating 1-10 Duke, 2-10 Sun Belt powerhouse Texas State, 3-7 Georgia Tech, 1-10 Syracuse, 4-7 Louisville and 5-5 Pitt.
2021: Finished last in the Coastal Division at 6-6/2-6, losing to 6-6 Louisville, 5-7 Syracuse, 5-7 Florida State, and crushed by Wake Forest. Nice win against Mizzou, but other wins were against Colgate, UMass, Temple and Georgia Tech. Time will tell if he turns into a great head coach. But considering what Greg did here in his first tenure and hiring a first time head coach, still happy RU took Greg and not Hafley. Not even clear if Hafley was seriously in the running. The message board will be interesting after the BC game next year. Let's keep in mind, however that Hafley took over a program that had not had a losing record for four straight years 2016-19, finishing 4-4 in the ACC the previous three years. Would the Greg haters say that BC regressed, going 2-6 in the ACC in year 2?

10. Anthony Campanile- currently a linebackers coach for Miami Dolphins. From news reports, he was looking to leave to be DC at BC. RU was, according to Kratch, in a bidding war with Michigan for him.

EDIT- #11. Bret Bielema (by @Caliknight request):
Don't think Bielema was ever seriously under consideration, as he had just been hired as DL coach at New England for the 2019 season. But there was his lawsuit against Arkansas for failure to pay his money due that says he was a finalist for the Rutgers job. But was he? Nobody really knows.

In any event, Bielema did well at Wisconsin, riding Barry Alvarez' coattails, but when he bolted for Arkansas, he went 3-9/0-8 in year 1 (2013) and 7-6/2-6 in year 2 (2014). He had a decent third season, but he was ultimately fired by the Razorbacks at the end of year 5 when he went 4-8/1-7 in 2017. Not an awe-inspiring resume to be 29-34/11-29 in 5 years. He probably had a lot of Bobby Petrino's players those first 2-3 years, as Petrino went 11-2/6-2 in 2011. But he brought it down to rock bottom in year 5.

2021 at Illinois:
5-7/4-5. Lost to Maryland. Shut out by Wisconsin. He beat Penn State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska, which is good on him. But he lost to Rutgers. Bielema said about that: " We came out in the second half and laid an egg. My fault.” This makes him 0-2 against Rutgers. So there's that.

Jury is out on Bielema. Let's check back in 2-3 years.

SUMMARY- so the question is, would any of the other candidates done better than Greg? Maybe, but from the above, it looks like more likely they would not have done better.
For those complaining about an 8 year deal, consider what Michigan State spent on Mel Tucker after one bad year and one great year ($95 million/10 years). And before we continue to gaze lovingly at Mel Tucker and Michigan State, let's not forget then were 2-5/2-5 last year, and Tucker was 5-7/3-6 at Colorado. A little early for such a long and huge deal. Will he repeat? We shall see.

And before we say Maryland is waaay ahead of RU, keep in mind Locksley is in year 3. He was 3-9/3-9 in year one, and 2-3/2-3 in year 2, losing to Rutgers last year. Maryland got annihilated by Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan. This year, they were better than us. Last year we were better than them. There is no long term trend to be drawn from a small sample size.

Yesterday sucked and was deflating, but recruiting is trending way up, the biggest problem (the OL) is getting fixed and reinforced. Does the team have problems/weaknesses/things to be fixed, including coaching? Absolutely. Every team that has gone 5-7/2-7 has these issues in the middle of a rebuild. See Lance Leipold at Kansas. Or Tom Allen, who had two good years (year 4 and 5) at Indiana, and then regress. Greg said himself yesterday (and previously): "It's never linear, as we know. It's always that little bit of that mountain range until you really get all the pieces in place, and when you get the pieces in place, then it kind of goes like that, but we're not there yet."

Onward, upward.


I was on the Lance Leipold train before Greg got back in the picture. While I am happy with RU’s progress, I have no doubt that LL could have done really great things at RU.
I will watch LL at Kansas but have no doubt in a few years Kansas will be good. And then LL will be off to a bigger program.
 
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Given the fact that we are only two years removed from the disaster known as Chris Ash, being one win away from a bowl bid is a miracle
My problem anything bad we blame on the previous staff any good we credit the current staff. The coach get paid 4 million a year it is his team period. GS has never developed a stud QB and until he does he will remain a sub 500 coach.
 
My problem anything bad we blame on the previous staff any good we credit the current staff. The coach get paid 4 million a year it is his team period. GS has never developed a stud QB and until he does he will remain a sub 500 coach.
Said something similar like this for years on here…

Hayden Fry’s Iowa became “Hayden Fry’s Iowa” when he got his Chuck Long.

We saw the difference on Saturday when Maryland had their guy who we didn’t see the previous year because of COVID.

Obviously it’s more than just one position (and it seems thru this current class we are showing that) but having that type of QB doesn’t hurt.
 
Said something similar like this for years on here…

Hayden Fry’s Iowa became “Hayden Fry’s Iowa” when he got his Chuck Long.

We saw the difference on Saturday when Maryland had their guy who we didn’t see the previous year because of COVID.

Obviously it’s more than just one position (and it seems thru this current class we are showing that) but having that type of QB doesn’t hurt.
And this was Locksley's third year. He had the benefit of knowing Taulia at Alabama.
And keep in mind that the guy who should be the most adept at developing a stud QB is still trying at Michigan. It ain't easy. There were really only two true young stud QBs in the entire B1G this year- Taulia and CJ Stroud. There were some other decent ones, but perhaps not studs.

It ain't easy. Did someone say that already?
 
And this was Locksley's third year. He had the benefit of knowing Taulia at Alabama.
And keep in mind that the guy who should be the most adept at developing a stud QB is still trying at Michigan. It ain't easy. There were really only two true young stud QBs in the entire B1G this year- Taulia and CJ Stroud. There were some other decent ones, but perhaps not studs.

It ain't easy. Did someone say that already?
So then we should be bowling next year?
 
So then we should be bowling next year?
Wut? Not sure what your question is in context to.
If because Locksley went to a bowl in year 3, we should too, the answer is not that simple.
It remains to be seen if Gavin or some other QB on the roster or we acquire is going to rise to at least the level of Gary Nova (or perhaps Laviano) and we have decent OL performance.
Remember, Maryland did not have an Ash who cratered recruiting for 4 years.
 
Wut? Not sure what your question is in context to.
If because Locksley went to a bowl in year 3, we should too, the answer is not that simple.
It remains to be seen if Gavin or some other QB on the roster or we acquire is going to rise to at least the level of Gary Nova (or perhaps Laviano) and we have decent OL performance.
Remember, Maryland did not have an Ash who cratered recruiting for 4 years.
No, but they had a coach who ran a player to death, literally.
 
You might be right but those same MAC teams are sometimes better than Indiana Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland and possibly other B1G 10 teams. I was asking about specifically the 3 and 4 star lineman ( like the ones we're getting next year) that chose the MAC over RU?

p.s. - I'd ask PJ about that but for some reasons he's not taking my calls?
There are plenty of MAC games on TV. Watch a game or two. Then tell me there aren’t plenty of lineman who could play here, day one.
 
There are plenty of MAC games on TV. Watch a game or two. Then tell me there aren’t plenty of lineman who could play here, day one.
To your point, some MAC teams have competed nicely against B1G teams, although they were only 1-10 this year against the B1G.

Bowling Green beat Minnesota this year.
Eastern Michigan beat Illinois in 2019

2018 was a banner year for the MAC against the B1G:
Buffalo thrashed Rutgers in 2018
Akron beat Northwestern in 2018 39-34
Eastern Michigan beat Purdue in 2018

In 2017, Northern Illinois beat Nebraska
Eastern Michigan beat Rutgers in 2017.

Now, in one or two games against B1G competition per season, the OL can play. The question is would they hold up in 9 B1G conference games. With proper strength and conditioning- probably?
 
Now, in one or two games against B1G competition per season, the OL can play. The question is would they hold up in 9 B1G conference games. With proper strength and conditioning- probably?

More importantly, how would they hold up against the meat grinder we faced in the middle of the season of consecutive games against Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State?
 
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More importantly, how would they hold up against the meat grinder we faced in the middle of the season of consecutive games against Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State?
Next year we end the season with Iowa, at Michigan St., Michigan and Penn St.
That's what life is like in the B1G 10.
A positive in the schedule is that our open week is at the exact midpoint of the season and right after tOSU.
 
To your point, some MAC teams have competed nicely against B1G teams, although they were only 1-10 this year against the B1G.

Bowling Green beat Minnesota this year.
Eastern Michigan beat Illinois in 2019

2018 was a banner year for the MAC against the B1G:
Buffalo thrashed Rutgers in 2018
Akron beat Northwestern in 2018 39-34
Eastern Michigan beat Purdue in 2018

In 2017, Northern Illinois beat Nebraska
Eastern Michigan beat Rutgers in 2017.

Now, in one or two games against B1G competition per season, the OL can play. The question is would they hold up in 9 B1G conference games. With proper strength and conditioning- probably?

More importantly, how would they hold up against the meat grinder we faced in the middle of the season of consecutive games against Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State?
I think the point @Mr_Twister is trying to make is there is some talent in the MAC. And maybe we should try grab/offer one of the better OL when they make their intentions known via the portal.

I bet there is at least one (if not more) OL in the whole MAC who could come and start here from day one.
 
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There are plenty of MAC games on TV. Watch a game or two. Then tell me there aren’t plenty of lineman who could play here, day one.

I do watch MAC games and you are 100% right. I thought you were inferring that there were some lineman who turned us down and went to a MAC school instead. Apologies if I misinterpeted.
 
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Next year we end the season with Iowa, at Michigan St., Michigan and Penn St.
That's what life is like in the B1G 10.
A positive in the schedule is that our open week is at the exact midpoint of the season and right after tOSU.

My comment was in reference to a MAC team playing a full Big 10 schedule, especially the 3 game meat grinder we faced this year.
 
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I think the point @Mr_Twister is trying to make is there is some talent in the MAC. And maybe we should try grab/offer one of the better OL when they make their intentions known via the portal.

I bet there is at least one (if not more) OL in the whole MAC who could come and start here from day one.
Absolutely, @Mr_Twister is right. It's about having ENOUGH linemen so that they can be rotated and fresh throughout games AND the season. As we saw this year, we did not have enough seasoned/experienced OL to get through the grind of the schedule.
 
And everyone on this board would’ve ripped him and admin a new one since he’s not Schiano.
there are a lot here that arn't blindly loyal to Greg and really would have liked someone else.
So I doubt there would be many who would have ripped the administration for hiring someone besides Schiano.
But would have if the new HC had a weak resume .
Greg was hired because Hobbs couldn't find a good one and Rutgers fans were impatient
to get someone who they could trust to fix the mess the program looked like.
Remember Hobbs looked like he was trying to keep Greg from getting the job, but he wasn't getting a bite from the ones that could be considered good candidates.
At least that's the way it looked .
So Hobbs and Schiano reached an agreement and if I remember right, there were a few that didn't like that agreement, but most thought it was OK because the program needed to be rebuilt
 
there are a lot here that arn't blindly loyal to Greg and really would have liked someone else.
So I doubt there would be many who would have ripped the administration for hiring someone besides Schiano.
But would have if the new HC had a weak resume .
Greg was hired because Hobbs couldn't find a good one and Rutgers fans were impatient
to get someone who they could trust to fix the mess the program looked like.
Remember Hobbs looked like he was trying to keep Greg from getting the job, but he wasn't getting a bite from the ones that could be considered good candidates.
At least that's the way it looked .
So Hobbs and Schiano reached an agreement and if I remember right, there were a few that didn't like that agreement, but most thought it was OK because the program needed to be rebuilt
Remember, Greg was negotiating hard and making demands the BOG and donors were not able or willing to meet, not that Hobbs was "trying to get Greg from getting the job." Perhaps to people not directly involved in the process, it may have "looked" that way. Like any AD in such a negotiation, he had to have a few next best alternatives in the negotiations. Anything else posted on this board is unproven gossip. Only Greg, Hobbs, Greg Brown and other BOG members truly know how the whole thing transpired. Ultimately, Greg reduced his demands and they came to an agreement.
 
Remember, Greg was negotiating hard and making demands the BOG and donors were not able or willing to meet, not that Hobbs was "trying to get Greg from getting the job." Perhaps to people not directly involved in the process, it may have "looked" that way. Like any AD in such a negotiation, he had to have a few next best alternatives in the negotiations. Anything else posted on this board is unproven gossip. Only Greg, Hobbs, Greg Brown and other BOG members truly know how the whole thing transpired. Ultimately, Greg reduced his demands and they came to an agreement.
Thanks for explanation and if memory serves me correct Schiano did have demands ( at first) that were negotiated down before he was hired.
Do you ( or anyone) know if Hobbs had any candidates he went after or if anyone interview for the RU HC position before Hobbs hired Schiano .

My opinion, without inside or any valid info, is Hobbs wasn't offering what the better candidates would want, so the pool of quality candidates might have been shallow and with very little of them looking Rutgers way .
But that's just my guess, without one bit of proof
 
Remember, Greg was negotiating hard and making demands the BOG and donors were not able or willing to meet, not that Hobbs was "trying to get Greg from getting the job." Perhaps to people not directly involved in the process, it may have "looked" that way. Like any AD in such a negotiation, he had to have a few next best alternatives in the negotiations. Anything else posted on this board is unproven gossip. Only Greg, Hobbs, Greg Brown and other BOG members truly know how the whole thing transpired. Ultimately, Greg reduced his demands and they came to an agreement.
Bull crap Hobbs never wanted Schiano. It would make him 2nd fiddle in Athletics which he is now. If it wasn't for the fans, NJ media and Greg Brown making noise then Hobbs would have hired a cheap nobody. Hobbs looked like a fool in that whole process
 
Thanks for explanation and if memory serves me correct Schiano did have demands ( at first) that were negotiated down before he was hired.
Do you ( or anyone) know if Hobbs had any candidates he went after or if anyone interview for the RU HC position before Hobbs hired Schiano .

My opinion, without inside or any valid info, is Hobbs wasn't offering what the better candidates would want, so the pool of quality candidates might have been shallow and with very little of them looking Rutgers way .
But that's just my guess, without one bit of proof
I have no inside information. The only people I would trust on their recount of events are Schiano, Hobbs, Brown, and maybe a couple of other BOG members.
IIRC, candidates were interviewed. Butch Jones? In a lawsuit Bielema filed, it said he was under consideration for the Rutgers job. Greg was smart to come in with sky high demands and negotiate from there. Never come into a negotiation with exactly what you want, as you will often walk away with less than what you wanted.
 
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